APA vs MLA: The Key Differences in Format and Citation

In the academic field, whatever task or project you do needs to comply with certain guidelines. One of the most commonly followed is the citation style that you must follow. There are plenty of citation styles that leave your head spinning for a while. However, the most commonly followed are APA and MLA. Besides, the use of them can confuse many students. That is why it is written to know what APA vs MLA means in the academic context.

What Is A Citation Style?

A way to give credit to the already established research in the domain in which you’re doing tasks. Giving credit to individuals who have done substantial research and work in their respective fields is a sign of acknowledging how their research is used. Each set of guidelines gives specific instructions on things like book articles, along with website citations. The rules ensure that references to sources used by the author are duly regarded. Besides, citation style advice details the order of information, punctuation, capitalisation, and formatting of references.

Main Points of Difference Between APA and MLA

In the process of writing the best academic work, you must know the points of difference between APA vs MLA formats.

Discipline

This is the section that talks about the domains that APA and MLA affect.

APA

The APA style is mostly applicable in the behavioural sciences, such as business, nursing, and others. APA is fit for disciplines where information is crucial.

For example: New research findings, studies, and data analysis.

The publication date is the foremost in APA when the recent works are seen as feedback on recent research. This shows how more recent research is building upon previous findings.

MLA

MLA is one of the styles normally used in humanities, especially in literature, philosophy, history, linguistics, and cultural studies. MLA talks about what the author is saying and what the text means, rather than the publication date. Hence, it focuses on the analysis of ideas, themes, and content, and it does not emphasise timeliness nearly as much as the APA Style.

Title Page

This is where the key points of differences reflect and affect the outcome of your project.

APA

An APA title page must be attractive and professional. It has to be in the centre on the upper half of the title page:

Title: Centered halfway down the title page.

Author's Name: Centered beneath the title.

Institution Affiliation: Indicate where the author is affiliated, i.e., the writer's university, below the writer’s name.

Program name, professor’s name, and date: For the lower bottom of the title page.

MLA

MLA does not require a title page. On Page 1, all essential information (your name, instructor's name, course, and date) is written. This needs to be placed on the left. Besides, the title must be in the centre of the page. Moreover, neither boldface nor italics should be used.

Headings & Subheadings

Headings and subheadings play a vital part in making your task more extensive and adding value holistically.

APA

APA uses a hierarchical system of section headings that divides content into five levels. Each level of the ranked structure is led in a disciplinary style to promote ease of flow for the readers. Furthermore, each of the levels of the headings has its particular style of formatting.

MLA

MLA is not known to use a hierarchical heading system like that of APA. These have titles for the sections in question and depend on some form of paragraph formatting. Besides, for structure, such titles are not specially formatted, that is, not bolded or italicised.

In-Text Citations

Mentioning some of the details about the author and the work done by them is vital in this section.

APA

In APA style, in-text citations follow the scheme of the writer-date system. Besides, the writer’s last name and the year in which the publication was done are to be in parentheses. Besides this, it highlights how recent the research is.

Paraphrase example: (Smith 2020).

Direct quote example: (Smith 2020: 15).

MLA

In-text citations in MLA follow the scheme of the author-page system. Furthermore, you do not use a comma between the last name and the page number of an author.

Paraphrase example: (Smith 23).

Direct quote example: (Smith 23).

MLA is thus less concerned with the date at all since most arguments in the humanities take priority over when the work was published.

Reference List

After you have used many kinds of research in your assignment, it is crucial to reflect them in your reference list. It not only shows that you have collected information but also gives more attention to the number of citations you might be using.

APA

The references page is the last page of the assignment and includes all the sources cited, in alphabetical order. Besides, there is a great focus on the publication year, making it very clear how current the work is. Each reference entry includes basic elements such as the author; publication year; title; publisher; and DOI.

MLA

The reference page lists all the sources used throughout the task. The entries are in alphabetical order according to the writer’s last name and include the writer(s), title of the work, publisher, and year of publication. In MLA style, more focus is given to the medium of the source, and no DOI is required.

Page Numbers

Even the page number in APA vs MLA citation are contrasting. And this is what most students lack in their projects.

APA

In APA, the page number is included in each page's upper right corner, beginning alongside the page title. Hence, you can easily find specific information in your task.

MLA

Page numbers should also be placed in each page's upper right corner, led by the last name of the author.

For example: Smith 5.

Quotations

Words and phrases have to be placed in quotation marks, which is the demand of every citation style.

APA

The APA uses quotations for short quotes and block quotations for long ones. Besides, block quotations are marked from the left margin, and the citation is included following the punctuation mark.

For example: Smith (2020) suggests "that social behaviour is largely influenced by group dynamics" (p. 45).

MLA

MLA, on the other hand, uses quotation marks for short quotations and for longer ones, uses block-like quotations. Furthermore, block quotations will be marked on a new line, “without quotation marks.” Thus, the MLA requires that the page number must be cited for both short and long quotations.

For example: “Social behaviour is largely influenced by group dynamics” (Smith 45).

Punctuation & Capitalisation

The use of punctuation and capitalisation is the need of the hour when it comes to citation styles. Hence, these can make all the difference in your ability to produce an A+ grade task.

APA

The APA recommendation is to use sentence cases for titles, as well as for headings, such that they capitalise only the first word of the title and proper nouns.

For example: the effects of social behavior on group dynamics.

MLA

MLA recommendations use a title case for titles and headings. Moreover, you need to capitalise the first word, the last word, and the major words located between these two.

For example: The Effects of Social Behavior on Group Dynamics.

Reference For Online Sources

Once you have collected all the necessary information for your task, especially those which are online, you must properly reference them.

APA

For online materials, APA format requires DOI with the assumption that it exists. If a DOI is not available, then you have to cite it with a URL. An access date is typically not essential unless there is reasonable proof to believe a source will change over time.

MLA

According to MLA, a URL for online materials, the access date is often the focus of change.

Footnotes & Endnotes

These indicate rather a more effective side of the citation. Used as sources of additional information, footnotes and endnotes are pretty important to maintain.

APA

Footnotes are economical, used and written exclusively for content notes rather than citation purposes. In-text citations would be preferred to footnotes.

MLA

Generally, footnotes and endnotes serve to give further explanations and thus may disturb the flow of the writing.

Use of Secondary Sources

Making your task thorough requires help from various sources, which includes secondary sources. And, if you need the assistance of experts to get the best of secondary sources, then connect with the Assignment Writing Service.

APA

In place of secondary sources, APA recommends the use of primary sources. Besides, in-text citations must include both the primary source and the secondary source. However, if secondary sources are recognised, in-text references will name both the primary source and the secondary source.

MLA

MLA prefers primary sources and, with some exceptions, allows the citation of a secondary source. If a secondary source is recognised, the two should be distinguished in the citation.

Tables & Figures

An important aspect of some academic tasks is the involvement of tables and figures. Here, citation does play an essential role in the academic scheme of things.

APA

All tables and figures should be clearly labelled and numbered continuously (e.g., Table 1, Figure 1). Therefore, captions and detailed explanations are given.

MLA

Tables and figures are included but are not strictly numbered. Hence, they may appear with captions or immediately below the text they are discussing.

The Final Word

Finding the right balance in the debate of APA vs MLA is a vital academic aspect that one must manage. Besides, APA as an aspect is servicing mostly the social sciences. Its emphasis on publishing timeliness reflects its focus on findings that are recent and contribute to ongoing research. Moreover, it works with a hierarchy of headings, a specific reference format, and attention to the date of publication and highlighting the source contribution. On the other hand, MLA works mostly in the humanities, where the contents, ideas, and themes dominate the publication dates.